Casket Match
D'Lo Brown VS. Sonny Siaki (with Trinity)
One notable rule difference in a TNA casket match...the coffin is
actually IN the
ring, setting up all sorts of possibilities.
Brown set the metal casket up in the corner and whipped "The Ace In The
Hole" into
it. Moments later Siaki layed D'Lo out with a right hand and threw the
casket on him
face first several times. Trinity held Brown's arms in the corner as
Siaki threw the
casket on his back. I have to hand it to TNA: they have combined the
drama of a
casket match with the brutality of a ladder match!
Brown put Siaki on the casket and hit a frog splash from the top rope.
D'Lo looked
set to win by a save was made by the man formerly known as Jamal in the
WWE. Yes the
former member of 3 Minute Warning came in and destroyed Brown with a
throw away
Samoan Drop and then a top rope Superfly Splash. Jamal and Siaki tossed
Brown in the
box.
Winner: "The Ace In Your Face" Siaki
Don Callis and Eric Watts argued backstage about booking decisions and
about who has
the power in TNA.
X-Division 6 Man Tag Match
Chris Sabin, Nosawa and Michael Shane VS. Eric Young, Frankie Kazarian
and Juventud
Guerrera.
A reminder, Sabin won the X-Division Super 8 Tournament, Shane is the
X-Division
Champion, Nosawa is a gothic looking Japanese wrestler who has worked
mainly in EMLL
and JCW, Kazarian is awesome, Juvi is great and Young is a Toronto
native making his
TNA debut.
Unfortunately for "Showtime" Eric Young, he was fonted by the TNA
producers as "David Young"
David of course is the former TNA wrestler who hasn't worked with them
in several
months. Tenay did a nice job however of putting the young Canadian over.
Awesome moment came when Shane was sitting on the top rope, Kazarian ran
up to meet
him (Angle style) but was taken down in a spinning sit out neckbreaker
by Shane. Wow!
Kazarian was beaten down by all three before making the hot tag to Juvi
who took out
all three. We then had the obligatory pile up outside the ring, with
running planchas
and a topei between the ropes by Young. When five men were on the
outside, Sabin ran
across the ring, lept to the top and did an UNREAL somersault dive
taking out
everyone.
We then had an exchange of finishers and run ins. Juvi Driver, Cradle
Shock by Sabin,
Wave of the Future by Kazarian, and then a kicking fest by Nosawa on
Young. Young hit
his Wheelbarrow / DDT move before taking a belt shot from Sabin. With
the Canadian
down and Sabin celebrating, the champion, Michael Shane ran in the ring
and made the
cover. Where was Kazarian? He was outside talking to a female "fan".
That "fan" was
actually a former SUNshine girl, another Toronto native and a regular in
Scott
D'Amore's BCW. She goes by the name "Angel". [See our preview interview
with her:
Touched by Angel
Williams]
Christopher Daniels was shown cutting a series of incredible promos that
ended with
him talking to three members of his following dressed like alter boys.
Daniels told
them to prepare Jarrett for his "cleansing". The three of them replied
in unison
telling The Fallen Angel that he is the light.
Jarrett then stormed the ring with a mic ready to address a few people.
He asked
Watts why he hasn't had a title rematch. He then told NWA officials that
Piper cares
about this business while Russo can't stand it. They should keep Piper
and toss
Russo. He then told Daniels then he is the hunted.
Scott Hudson was backstage talking to Mad Mikey. He and his partner
Shark Boy (who
Mikey calls "Jaws") were granted a title shot against the NWA Tag champs
this week.
Mikey was wearing a t-shirt with the words "FedUp" made to look like the
FedEx logo.
Hilarious. Sharky was playing with a remote control robot, whick Mikey
destroyed.
NWA Tag Team Title Match
Mad Mikey and Shark Boy VS. Johnny Swinger and Simon Diamond (with Glen
Gilberti)
Mikey put an armbar on Swinger and then gingerly walked the BOTTOM rope!
Tenay told
us that Mikey calls that 'Pre-School". Jaws was tagged in and hit the
"Shark-canrana". This is one funny team. I have to hand it to Crash...
he has really
gotten this new character over.
Sharky did hit the Dead Sea Drop (top rope 360 Stunner) but Gilberti
managed to put
Swinger's leg on the bottom rope. Shortly after, the champs hit the
Problem Solver on
Aqua Man for the win.
Winners: Swinger and Diamond
The cameras then cut away to Jarrett as he was battling Daniels' unnamed
servants.
One of the disciples battled JJ all the way up to the balcony only to be
thrown over
the railing and through a table! Thanks for comin' out kid. Jarrett then
screamed
that he was after Daniels.
Video where AJ Styles talked about how he and Jerry Lynn made the
X-Division in
2002... but that was 2002. 2K3 is all about Styles. Lynn said this was
his first shot
at the title and he was looking forward to facing the man he has beaten
three times
before. Apparently Lynn forgot about his World Title shot against Ron
Killings.
Okay, this is stupid. The World title is being defended at the start of
the second
hour. Why? So that the Hair VS. Hair match can be featured in the main
event. Bad
call TNA.
NWA World Title Match
AJ Styles (with Trinity) VS. Jerry Lynn
Russo did not come to the ring with the champion as he normally does.
This match was simply awesome. Lynn hasn't looked this good since the
end of 2002.
Both men impressed the live crowd with multiple reversals and high
impact moves. Cool
move on the outside when Lynn threw Styles into the guard rail and
Styles actually
slid underneath! He then springboarded himself from the crowd onto the
railing but
landed on Lynn's knee stomach first. Styles found an opening and then
threw Lynn into
the steps face first. That shot seemed to open a nasty gash on Lynn's
face, which
prompted Styles to follow up with vicious fists. Lynn was a bloody mess.
Lynn caught an attempted leapfrog by AJ and spun him into an F5. AJ
tried a leapfrog
hurricanrana from the top, but was caught and then taken into a running
and JUMPING
sit out powerbomb! HOLY! That was amazing. two count only. Lynn went for a
piledriver, but Trinity pulled the ref's leg, allowing Styles to hit the
Spine on The
Pine. Brain buster by Styles. Two count only. A piledriver by Styles on
a chair.
Still only a two count. Immediately after, AJ went for the Styles Clash
and picked up
a win on Lynn. This was a great match.
Winner: AJ Styles
Vince Russo then ran out to the ring, grabbed a mic and asked Eric Watts
what the
decision was: Him or Piper. Watts didn't come out, but Dusty Rhodes did.
Rhodes said it was not the decision of NWA, TNA or Russo if AJ was to
leave. It is
his decision alone. AJ had Russo's bat in hand. Dusty talked about how
Styles doesn't
need Russo because he is the champ and he is the man who leads thousands
of wrestlers
past and present. Rhodes did cut a passionate promo trying to appeal to
AJ's sense of
history and respect.
Rhodes then said that whenever AJ goes to the "Pay Winda" Russo is there
behind him
ready to take a cut of his blood and his work. That seemed to get
Styles. He seemed
set to clobber Russo when he instead handed his bat to Rhodes. Rhodes
got ready to
nail Vinny Ru, but was predictably jumped by Styles. Styles and Rhodes
then battled
before the numbers game caught up with the old timer. Piper tried to
make the save
but was stopped by Red-Shirt security Northcutt and Wilson. AJ continued
to pound on
Dusty until JJ made the save.
Backstage Russo demanded an answer from Don Callis and Eric Watts as Red
Shirt
Security held Piper. Callis said to throw Piper out of the building.
Jarrett then
throttled Callis saying he would kill him. Callis said he was just doing
his job and
Jarrett should do his, since he's just "meat" put in the ring to perform.
A video package was shown recapping the long feud between Shane Douglas,
Raven and
the Mystery Man who has attacked Raven on several occasions.
James Mitchell cut an awesome promo talking about how Raven's lackey's
won't respect
him when they're so busy laughing at his bald head. Mitchell also said
there wouldn't
be any false advertising and someone was going to leave with a "pretty
crew cut"
(*cough* Nash *cough*). He guaranteed that the loser would be shaved bald.
Hair VS. Hair
Raven VS. Shane Douglas
Tenay talked about famous hair matches in history: Destroyer versus
Gorgeous George,
Konnan versus Jake Roberts and Piper versus Adrian Adonis.
This match started slowly and the quickly spilled to the outside. Raven
dominated and
whacked The Franchise around with chair shots. He placed a chair on
Shane's face and
the came down on him with a leg drop. Raven then had a fan hold a chair
as he threw
Douglas into it face first. Take that "interactive" dinner theatre.
Back in the ring, Raven locked in the Cobra Clutch. Douglas dropped, and
Raven went
for the Evenflow but took a drop toe-hold that threw him between the
ropes to the
floor.
For the record, this match was about 10 minutes in without any Raven
blood! A new TNA
record!! As I typed that, Douglas was busted open on the steps. Douglas
finally got
an offensive move in and slammed Raven into the steps. FINALLY we have
blood from the
former Scotty Flamingo. Douglas wiped some on his hand and showed it to
the ringside
fans. They didn't seem interested.
Abdominal stretch by Raven turned into a hip toss that threw Raven over
the top.
Raven's body actually hit the ring apron the way down. Ouch. Dumb
comment of the week
by Don West: "It's like Douglas got super strength since he saw Raven's
blood". Oy.
Raven set up a chair in the ring and hit his drop toe hold onto it.
Raven ducked a
clothesline attempt by Douglas and hit a GREAT superkick! Ya, Raven did!
He had a pinfall but Slash ran down and pulled the ref out of the ring.
Slash and
Sinn took out the ref and then put the boots to Raven while Douglas
recovered. The
New Church set a table up in the ring, but didn't use it. We had a
triple team on
Raven before Julio Dinero and CM Punk finally ran down to take out Slash
and Sinn.
Raven attempted a top rope superplex by was pushed backwards into the
table. Douglas
followed quickly with a pinfall attempt but Raven kicked out. Another
table was set
up and Raven hit a top rope DDT through it. One ... two ... and then the
lights went
out. When they came back up, the masked man was in the ring. He pulled
his mask off
revealing himself to be Canadian wrestler and International superstar,
Vampiro!
Vampiro crushed Raven with a DDT and allowed Douglas to make the pin.
Winner: Shane Douglas
When Raven came to he willingly sat in a chair while Mitchell shaved his
head bald.
It wasn't a pretty sight. The show ended with West throwing his headset
down in
disgust and Tenay screaming "THIS SUCKS" and "[I've] LOST MY OBJECTIVITY".
Small side note: we learned during the last match that Don Callis
challenged Jarrett
to a one on one "showdown" next week.
Overall, this was a very entertaining show. The NWA title match stood
out as another
classic and the tag title match started as a comedy bout but ended with
great
wrestling. The X-Division match was exactly what you'd expect - breath
taking.
Piper's highly promoted appearance amounted to nothing more than a huge
waste of
time.
If you missed this week's show, I would strongly recommend catching the
encore.
Donnie Abreu has been a wrestling journalist for eight years and is the
co-founder of
IceCold Media (www.icecoldmedia.com).
Visit IceCold Media for all your custom media design needs. Mention that
you read
Donnie's column on SLAM! and receive a 20% discount! Looking to make
some extra cash?
Visit www.icecoldmedia.com to
find out
about ICM's new Affiliate Program and how it can work for you!
" />

West and Tenay sold this week's show... ummm, I ALREADY bought it! Cue
the bagpipes
as 'Hot Rod' Roddy Piper walked out to very subdued reaction.

There was a stool in the ring for Piper to sit and spew his words. Tenay
said that
Piper was TNA but then brought up by the WWE before they turned their
collective
backs on him. Now, Piper is back "home".

Piper started with "Heard any good Roddy Piper jokes lately??" He then
promised
"reality" in his promo. He talked about how his son approached him after
reading a
news piece on the Internet that said he was a drug addict. Piper seemed
to break down
a little and then threw the stool out of the ring. He said the people
who put that
stuff on the Internet for his family to see are a bunch of jerks.

Piper played up his "family values" and the fact that he "made"
Wrestlemania. He then
said he has come "home" to TNA which is a "rocket ship getting ready to
take off."

At that point, Vince Russo walked out. Piper referenced their last
encounter and said
he regretted not breaking Russo's neck the last time he was in the ring
with him.
Russo then snapped on Piper saying that the last time he was in TNA he
was talking
about Russo saying things that weren't true. Russo said the only reason
Piper was in
TNA was because he burned every bridge he ever crossed. Russo said he
has given the
last year of his life to building TNA and he doesn't want Piper in his
company. He
then told TNA that he wanted a decision this week ... if Piper stays,
then Russo will
leave and take NWA Champion AJ Styles with him. Russo asked Piper if
he'd like to see
the NWA fold just so he could have a job. This was actually a pretty
good segment.

Video montage recapped the Sonny Siaki-D'Lo Brown feud.

Casket Match
D'Lo Brown VS. Sonny Siaki (with Trinity)

One notable rule difference in a TNA casket match...the coffin is
actually IN the
ring, setting up all sorts of possibilities.

Brown set the metal casket up in the corner and whipped "The Ace In The
Hole" into
it. Moments later Siaki layed D'Lo out with a right hand and threw the
casket on him
face first several times. Trinity held Brown's arms in the corner as
Siaki threw the
casket on his back. I have to hand it to TNA: they have combined the
drama of a
casket match with the brutality of a ladder match!

Brown put Siaki on the casket and hit a frog splash from the top rope.
D'Lo looked
set to win by a save was made by the man formerly known as Jamal in the
WWE. Yes the
former member of 3 Minute Warning came in and destroyed Brown with a
throw away
Samoan Drop and then a top rope Superfly Splash. Jamal and Siaki tossed
Brown in the
box.

Winner: "The Ace In Your Face" Siaki

Don Callis and Eric Watts argued backstage about booking decisions and
about who has
the power in TNA.

A reminder, Sabin won the X-Division Super 8 Tournament, Shane is the
X-Division
Champion, Nosawa is a gothic looking Japanese wrestler who has worked
mainly in EMLL
and JCW, Kazarian is awesome, Juvi is great and Young is a Toronto
native making his
TNA debut.

Unfortunately for "Showtime" Eric Young, he was fonted by the TNA
producers as "David Young"
David of course is the former TNA wrestler who hasn't worked with them
in several
months. Tenay did a nice job however of putting the young Canadian over.

Awesome moment came when Shane was sitting on the top rope, Kazarian ran
up to meet
him (Angle style) but was taken down in a spinning sit out neckbreaker
by Shane. Wow!

Kazarian was beaten down by all three before making the hot tag to Juvi
who took out
all three. We then had the obligatory pile up outside the ring, with
running planchas
and a topei between the ropes by Young. When five men were on the
outside, Sabin ran
across the ring, lept to the top and did an UNREAL somersault dive
taking out
everyone.

We then had an exchange of finishers and run ins. Juvi Driver, Cradle
Shock by Sabin,
Wave of the Future by Kazarian, and then a kicking fest by Nosawa on
Young. Young hit
his Wheelbarrow / DDT move before taking a belt shot from Sabin. With
the Canadian
down and Sabin celebrating, the champion, Michael Shane ran in the ring
and made the
cover. Where was Kazarian? He was outside talking to a female "fan".
That "fan" was
actually a former SUNshine girl, another Toronto native and a regular in
Scott
D'Amore's BCW. She goes by the name "Angel". [See our preview interview
with her:
Touched by Angel
Williams]

Christopher Daniels was shown cutting a series of incredible promos that
ended with
him talking to three members of his following dressed like alter boys.
Daniels told
them to prepare Jarrett for his "cleansing". The three of them replied
in unison
telling The Fallen Angel that he is the light.

Jarrett then stormed the ring with a mic ready to address a few people.
He asked
Watts why he hasn't had a title rematch. He then told NWA officials that
Piper cares
about this business while Russo can't stand it. They should keep Piper
and toss
Russo. He then told Daniels then he is the hunted.

Scott Hudson was backstage talking to Mad Mikey. He and his partner
Shark Boy (who
Mikey calls "Jaws") were granted a title shot against the NWA Tag champs
this week.
Mikey was wearing a t-shirt with the words "FedUp" made to look like the
FedEx logo.
Hilarious. Sharky was playing with a remote control robot, whick Mikey
destroyed.

Mikey put an armbar on Swinger and then gingerly walked the BOTTOM rope!
Tenay told
us that Mikey calls that 'Pre-School". Jaws was tagged in and hit the
"Shark-canrana". This is one funny team. I have to hand it to Crash...
he has really
gotten this new character over.

Sharky did hit the Dead Sea Drop (top rope 360 Stunner) but Gilberti
managed to put
Swinger's leg on the bottom rope. Shortly after, the champs hit the
Problem Solver on
Aqua Man for the win.

Winners: Swinger and Diamond

The cameras then cut away to Jarrett as he was battling Daniels' unnamed
servants.
One of the disciples battled JJ all the way up to the balcony only to be
thrown over
the railing and through a table! Thanks for comin' out kid. Jarrett then
screamed
that he was after Daniels.

Video where AJ Styles talked about how he and Jerry Lynn made the
X-Division in
2002... but that was 2002. 2K3 is all about Styles. Lynn said this was
his first shot
at the title and he was looking forward to facing the man he has beaten
three times
before. Apparently Lynn forgot about his World Title shot against Ron
Killings.

Okay, this is stupid. The World title is being defended at the start of
the second
hour. Why? So that the Hair VS. Hair match can be featured in the main
event. Bad
call TNA.

NWA World Title Match
AJ Styles (with Trinity) VS. Jerry Lynn

Russo did not come to the ring with the champion as he normally does.

This match was simply awesome. Lynn hasn't looked this good since the
end of 2002.
Both men impressed the live crowd with multiple reversals and high
impact moves. Cool
move on the outside when Lynn threw Styles into the guard rail and
Styles actually
slid underneath! He then springboarded himself from the crowd onto the
railing but
landed on Lynn's knee stomach first. Styles found an opening and then
threw Lynn into
the steps face first. That shot seemed to open a nasty gash on Lynn's
face, which
prompted Styles to follow up with vicious fists. Lynn was a bloody mess.

Lynn caught an attempted leapfrog by AJ and spun him into an F5. AJ
tried a leapfrog
hurricanrana from the top, but was caught and then taken into a running
and JUMPING
sit out powerbomb! HOLY! That was amazing. two count only. Lynn went for a
piledriver, but Trinity pulled the ref's leg, allowing Styles to hit the
Spine on The
Pine. Brain buster by Styles. Two count only. A piledriver by Styles on
a chair.
Still only a two count. Immediately after, AJ went for the Styles Clash
and picked up
a win on Lynn. This was a great match.

Winner: AJ Styles

Vince Russo then ran out to the ring, grabbed a mic and asked Eric Watts
what the
decision was: Him or Piper. Watts didn't come out, but Dusty Rhodes did.

Rhodes said it was not the decision of NWA, TNA or Russo if AJ was to
leave. It is
his decision alone. AJ had Russo's bat in hand. Dusty talked about how
Styles doesn't
need Russo because he is the champ and he is the man who leads thousands
of wrestlers
past and present. Rhodes did cut a passionate promo trying to appeal to
AJ's sense of
history and respect.

Rhodes then said that whenever AJ goes to the "Pay Winda" Russo is there
behind him
ready to take a cut of his blood and his work. That seemed to get
Styles. He seemed
set to clobber Russo when he instead handed his bat to Rhodes. Rhodes
got ready to
nail Vinny Ru, but was predictably jumped by Styles. Styles and Rhodes
then battled
before the numbers game caught up with the old timer. Piper tried to
make the save
but was stopped by Red-Shirt security Northcutt and Wilson. AJ continued
to pound on
Dusty until JJ made the save.

Backstage Russo demanded an answer from Don Callis and Eric Watts as Red
Shirt
Security held Piper. Callis said to throw Piper out of the building.
Jarrett then
throttled Callis saying he would kill him. Callis said he was just doing
his job and
Jarrett should do his, since he's just "meat" put in the ring to perform.

A video package was shown recapping the long feud between Shane Douglas,
Raven and
the Mystery Man who has attacked Raven on several occasions.

James Mitchell cut an awesome promo talking about how Raven's lackey's
won't respect
him when they're so busy laughing at his bald head. Mitchell also said
there wouldn't
be any false advertising and someone was going to leave with a "pretty
crew cut"
(*cough* Nash *cough*). He guaranteed that the loser would be shaved bald.

This match started slowly and the quickly spilled to the outside. Raven
dominated and
whacked The Franchise around with chair shots. He placed a chair on
Shane's face and
the came down on him with a leg drop. Raven then had a fan hold a chair
as he threw
Douglas into it face first. Take that "interactive" dinner theatre.

Back in the ring, Raven locked in the Cobra Clutch. Douglas dropped, and
Raven went
for the Evenflow but took a drop toe-hold that threw him between the
ropes to the
floor.

For the record, this match was about 10 minutes in without any Raven
blood! A new TNA
record!! As I typed that, Douglas was busted open on the steps. Douglas
finally got
an offensive move in and slammed Raven into the steps. FINALLY we have
blood from the
former Scotty Flamingo. Douglas wiped some on his hand and showed it to
the ringside
fans. They didn't seem interested.

Abdominal stretch by Raven turned into a hip toss that threw Raven over
the top.
Raven's body actually hit the ring apron the way down. Ouch. Dumb
comment of the week
by Don West: "It's like Douglas got super strength since he saw Raven's
blood". Oy.

Raven set up a chair in the ring and hit his drop toe hold onto it.
Raven ducked a
clothesline attempt by Douglas and hit a GREAT superkick! Ya, Raven did!

He had a pinfall but Slash ran down and pulled the ref out of the ring.
Slash and
Sinn took out the ref and then put the boots to Raven while Douglas
recovered. The
New Church set a table up in the ring, but didn't use it. We had a
triple team on
Raven before Julio Dinero and CM Punk finally ran down to take out Slash
and Sinn.

Raven attempted a top rope superplex by was pushed backwards into the
table. Douglas
followed quickly with a pinfall attempt but Raven kicked out. Another
table was set
up and Raven hit a top rope DDT through it. One ... two ... and then the
lights went
out. When they came back up, the masked man was in the ring. He pulled
his mask off
revealing himself to be Canadian wrestler and International superstar,
Vampiro!

Vampiro crushed Raven with a DDT and allowed Douglas to make the pin.

Winner: Shane Douglas

When Raven came to he willingly sat in a chair while Mitchell shaved his
head bald.
It wasn't a pretty sight. The show ended with West throwing his headset
down in
disgust and Tenay screaming "THIS SUCKS" and "[I've] LOST MY OBJECTIVITY".

Small side note: we learned during the last match that Don Callis
challenged Jarrett
to a one on one "showdown" next week.

Overall, this was a very entertaining show. The NWA title match stood
out as another
classic and the tag title match started as a comedy bout but ended with
great
wrestling. The X-Division match was exactly what you'd expect - breath
taking.

Piper's highly promoted appearance amounted to nothing more than a huge
waste of
time.

If you missed this week's show, I would strongly recommend catching the
encore.

Donnie Abreu has been a wrestling journalist for eight years and is the
co-founder of
IceCold Media (www.icecoldmedia.com).
Visit IceCold Media for all your custom media design needs. Mention that
you read
Donnie's column on SLAM! and receive a 20% discount! Looking to make
some extra cash?
Visit www.icecoldmedia.com to
find out
about ICM's new Affiliate Program and how it can work for you!